Justin is the new Britney

Big Hits, Baby
Such a coincidence that their biggest hits have the word "baby" in them. For Bieber, then 16, Baby erupted all over radio as the song you could not escape from. Annoyingly catchy, distinctly bubblegum and possibly childish to the point of puke-worthy, it brought me back to '98, when Spears, then 17, released ...Baby One More Time. I remember feeling the same way - that it was pop at its most straight-forward, catchy and it was a track that was impossible to run away from. I also almost puked when Sometimes was released but radio refused to stop playing BOMT. Both tracks were monster hits and shot them to pop royalty with the music world waiting to see/hear what would happen next. Sonically, Bieber matured faster as the current album straddles between bubble-gum (Beauty and a Beat) and something slightly edgier (Boyfriend). Spears continued to pander to her teen audience with Oops! before hitting the big time with the adventurous Slave 4 U. I'd like to see Bieber find his Slave with the next album. It can only, like Britney's sound, go uphill from there.



Never Say Never...
... to lip-syncing. When you've become such an electrifying performer that the spectacle you put on stage surpasses the need for people to hear you sing live, you lip-syncing. There comes a point in time where you're on huge sold-out tours - the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts - and you've to put on a show! Thankfully Britney has never thrown up on stage with the backing track running (well at least not that I know of), so it was rather unfortunate when it happened to Bieber on the first night of his Believe world tour in late September this year. Regardless, I've seen his recent performances of As Long As You Love Me at the Teen Choice Awards 2012 and his energy, intensity and playful facial expressions reminded me of a young Spears. However Spears is clearly the more tantalising of the two - just look at this A+, take-notes-all-teen-stars performance from the VMAs  in 2000. With time, hopefully Bieber will be ready to have his carry-a-snake-around-his-neck or I-kissed-Madonna-and-I-liked-it moment very soon at award shows to come.



Slave
As Bieber makes teen ovaries explode worldwide, Britney did the same to her fans, with many proclaiming "I'm a Slave 4 U Britney!" as she did her rounds in countless magazines, TV appearances, concerts and music videos. Ahh, music videos! They've got that genre under their belts! Also, both teen stars have the media fixated on their every move. Following in Britney's footsteps, Justin's been dating fellow teen-star Selena Gomez. When she had her belly-button pierced, Bieber got tattoos. Growing up in the media spotlight as the biggest teen star of the moment will inevitably give way to The Breakdown. With great success comes pundits taking bets on their big fall and the bigger the fall, the bigger the comeback. (The breakdown is only possible when you've attained an incredible amount of fame and are perched at the top of your game.) I wait with bated breath for Bieber's head-shaving, grabs-umbrella-and-attacks-a-car, Gimme-More-at-the-VMAs moment.

In my crystal ball, Justin looks like he'd be able to capture the world's imagination with the good-kid-gone-bad-gone-good story. Neither of them are Adele, but Bieber has what it takes to be the next Britney. Or he could become a boring, try-too-hard like Christina but I hope that never happens.